


Rock the Vote

by larchwood



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux, Sidewinder Series - Abigail Roux
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Back in 2015, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Ty gets hot and bothered, Zane talks spanish, screw tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 15:23:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17046152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larchwood/pseuds/larchwood
Summary: Wherein Ty plays college football, and Zane is an political campus volunteer.  (Not beta’d as usual)





	Rock the Vote

“Good luck tomorrow, son! We’re counting on you boys!”

“Yes, sir,” Ty said respectfully while bracing himself for the enthusiastic pat on the back he just knew was coming. “We’re going to give it our best.” Always be nice to the alumni, he reminded himself for the upteenth time. They donate for your scholarship and your housing and your training equipment, all of which he heard in his coach’s voice in his head.

He pointedly ignored the snickers from Nick and Kelly as he and Eli tried to extricate themselves politely from the attention of the fans - many of whom apparently had already started celebrating homecoming weekend. The restaurants and bars across the street from campus corner were already doing a healthy business.

After one final nod to excited fans, the friends resumed their walk across campus towards the dining hall, Nick and Kelly continuing to razz the other two with bad parodies of typical fan encounters. “You boys gonna whoop up on them fellas from State, ain’t ya!” said Nick, his Boston accent mangling the southern inflection. 

Kelly giggled and did his best impression of a cheerleader, “Give us an E! Give us an L! Give us an I! What does that spell? Goooo, fucknuts!” He ended the cheer with a roundoff and barely escaped crashing into a bench. The students and assorted visitors milling around them on the north oval laughed and applauded as he popped up and gave a sweeping bow. 

Ty smirked at him. “Good job, K. You show up to your first match like that, Coach will kick you off the team.” Kelly stuck his tongue out at him. “Whatever, Mr. Tight End Conference Player of the Week. Gymnastic season doesn’t start for another two months. I’ve got plenty of time to sharpen my routine. But the hopes and dreams of every would be high school football hero in the state rests on your shoulders, buddy.” He looked over at Eli. “And you, too,” he said as an afterthought. Eli just rolled his eyes before wrapping him in a headlock as they kept walking.

This was Ty’s favorite time of year. The late afternoon sun left a golden tinge on everything that only happens in the fall. The football season was well underway and they were hitting their stride on the field. As much as he disliked being recognized so easily on campus, he really did enjoy the festive atmosphere on game days. 

And he had lucked out this year to get a decent roommate with Nick and suitemates Eli and Kelly. Since they were all on various sports teams, they all understood the goals and pressures that came with being a student-athlete. Nick and Kelly were more than willing to play life coach, nurse, chauffeur, or errand boy if Ty or Eli needed them to in the midst of the season. They’ll do the same for them in the spring when Nick started baseball and Kelly did gymnastics.

Since it was Homecoming weekend, the usual crowd of students ambling about on a Friday afternoon was inflated by all the alumni, ready to party. Homecoming floats lined the north oval drive in front of the Admin building. Student organizations had booths set up to encourage sign ups and hand out freebies. Food vendor trucks were scattered through the campus. A decent cover band was playing in the courtyard of the student union. Ty started to hum along as he glanced over, idly wondering if he knew anyone in the band.

And then he saw him. Perhaps the most gorgeous guy he had ever seen - tall with shoulders that emphasized long arms and a trim waist. His long wavy black hair was swept behind his ears, held back from his face by sunglasses he had perched up on his head. He was dressed in jeans, a pair of well worn black Doc Martens, and a grey tshirt that said “Rock the Vote.” He stood next to a young woman, talking to her animatedly in… Spanish?

Ty stood gobsmacked for moment, then grabbed at Eli. “What the hell, man?” E asked, looking affronted like Ty would wrinkle his look with the manhandling. “That guy over there! What’s he saying?” he hissed. Eli gave him a flat look, then cocked his head to listen better.

“He’s telling her how to register to vote in her home town. Deadlines, what she can use for identification, that sort of thing.” He paused, “Why?” He drew the question out like he scented a secret and was prepared to ride Ty’s ass until he discovered what it was.

Continuing to stare at the other man, Ty muttered to himself, ignoring Eli. “He’s bilingual. That is so hot.” Eli yanked his arm out of Ty’s grasp and gave him a withering glare. “I talk Spanish all the time, and you don’t get your panties in a twist when I do it.”

“Yeah,” Ty agreed, before patting Eli on the shoulder, in consolation. “But I don’t wanna jump your bones, either.”

Nick and Kelly finally notice that Ty and Eli had stopped moving and wandered back towards them. “What’s the hold up?” Nick asked. “I thought we were gonna get food before the dining hall closed.”

Eli snorted. “Romeo over here has fallen in love.” He gestured over to the couple still talking.

“Yeah?” Kelly asked interestedly. “The guy or the girl?” Eli laughed. “The guy. Definitely the guy.”

Ty turned to his friends and said, “Ok, I’m going in. Best case scenario, I get a name, a number and a date. Lucky - can you make yourself scarce if I get lucky?” He waggled his eyebrows at his roommate, enjoying the pun.

Nick darted a quick glance over to Kelly before answering Ty with a little hitch in his voice. “Yeah, sure. No problem.” Eli just rolled his eyes at the two of them for still trying to keep their relationship on the down low.

“All right. Wish me luck,” and with that, Ty meandered over to the table and tried to look interested in the pamphlets and handouts, listening intently to the guy’s conversation.

The young woman waved to Ty’s mystery guy before heading off. The guy turned to Ty and said, “Hi, I’m Zane. Are you registered to vote?” The low smooth sound of his voice flummoxed Ty for a moment. Jesus, this guy was tall. Ty wasn’t used to having to look up to meet someone’s eyes.

Ty cleared his throat and said “No, no I’m not. Is it hard to get registered?” He mentally winced at the weak opening, but tried to maintain his cool. He hurriedly introduced himself, “I’m Ty, by the way.” Zane arched his eyebrow at Ty’s nervousness, but smiled at him warmly and said, “Hi, Ty. It’s nice to meet you. And no, it’s not difficult at all. But every state has different rules, so it’s important to know what the requirements are before you show up to vote.” 

Zane opened up a brochure that had a listing for all 50 states and territories with voting rights. “So where are you from?”

15 minutes later….

After waving goodbye to Zane, Ty grinned and sauntered back over to his friends, clutching a slip of paper and pulling his cellphone out of his pants pocket.

“Got it!,” he crowed. Kelly huffed a laugh. “I’m not sure how. I thought he was going to go ballistic there for a moment. What did you say to him?”

Ty snickered as he started to enter Zane’s contact info into his phone, never looking up. “Told him I thought Trump was the only candidate worth considering and I was looking forward to him making America great again. Maybe even considering volunteering for his campaign.”

The squawks of outrage from all three of his friends finally got his attention. He huffed and rolled his eyes. “I was kidding!! Even I couldn’t keep a straight face on that one. But it was cute watching him trying to maintain some sort of professionalism without calling me out on what a stupid choice that would be.”

He went back to fiddling with his phone. “Once I admitted that I’ve been registered to vote for 3 years and that I had only used that as an excuse to come over to talk to him, he said, ‘You’re a bit of an asshole, aren’t you?’ and then asked if I wanted to get together tonight.”

“So, Nick,” he continued. “You can do me a solid, right?” 

Eli pulled out his own phone as Kelly gave Nick a little smirk. Nick heaved a dramatic sigh, “Yes, Beaumont, you can have the room. But don’t make it a late night. Remember,” he went back to his godawful impression of the alumni from earlier, “you gotta beat those State boys tomorrow!”

Ty grinned at his roommate and slapped him on the back in thanks before sending Zane a text. He was so fixated on making plans he didn’t hear Eli’s phone conversation with his girlfriend. “Hey, baby. Mind if I come over tonight? Looks like I’m getting sexiled.” He glared at Nick & Kelly, who were looking everywhere but at Ty. “Seems like everyone’s getting busy tonight.”


End file.
